So recently, I began chatting with a new Otaku friend and
found out she was cosplaying a character from a show called Haikyu. I had heard the title before but often
confused it with Kurokuro’s Basketball, or rather their uniforms look pretty
similar. Still, at this friends request,
I decided to give it a shot and a week plus change later, I’m about halfway
through the second season (out of a current three). This show is the ultimate underdog tale, a
bit more so the Free in some ways. The
strength of the team work involved by every single character is integral and
each team member needs to improve their skills in their own way. With a cast so large, it’s hard to pick just
five, especially when you factor in the other schools. Lucky for me, my Top 5 Haikyu Characters are
all from the kick ass Karasuno High School Volleyball Club, so here they are.
#5-Kiyoko Shizumu
Funny enough, were it not for Season 2, Kiyoko would not
be on this list. Don’t get me wrong, she
is as hot as the boys make her out to be.
In fact, they’re dead on with their evaluation: she is sexy as all know
how. Only she doesn’t do much in Season
1 besides being the only girl on the show and doing something in the
background. Season 2 has Kiyoko open up
a heck of a lot more. With the end of
her time at Karasuno drawing near, Kiyoko steps up her dialogue and series activities
(and apparently her sex appeal, she looks much better in Season 2 for some
reason). She recruits a protegee in
Hitoka Yachi and teaches her a lot about the game and being friendly with the
team. Through these exchanges, you can
see Kiyoko views this band of misfits as her brothers and will miss them all
when she’s gone. But she’s going to
cheer them on a bit more and make sure they can last without her.
Oh who am I kidding, faults and all ive had with her,
Kiyoko is smoking hot in uniform (I am weak and a welcome member of Tanaka and
Nishinoya’s cheer squad for Manager Shizumu)
#4-Daichi Sawamura
Daichi was one of the first characters I found myself
loving when the show began. I really
liked his mentor style, which mostly involves saying hurtful truths to
teammates in a very polite manner. He’s
also hilarious when he gets upset, like wrath of God angry. And yet he’s always dependable, always
optimistic and a kind soul to his brothers.
But mostly I just live for the moments when he gets angry, you just know
youre gonna get some sweet and hilarious reactions from the guys when that
happens.
#3-Ryunosuke Tanaka
This guy is the best kind of big brother to have. Tanaka is the constantly lit fuse attached to
a powder keg you cant wait to see explode.
And thankfully, most of the time, when he goes off, it’s not cause his
teammates might not be doing their best.
Actually, Tanaka has two kinds of set off moments: one for his opponents
and one for his teammates. You know he’s
always going to be there for his teammates, even when Hinata pukes in his lap
out of sheer nervousness. While he hasn’t
done it in a bit, Tanaka also has a hilarious tendendcy to tear off his shirt
and swing it victoriously after scoring a point. He’s only done this like once in the show but
does it ever so often in the eye catches.
Idk, I find it amusing.
#2-Hinata Shoyo
Haikyu is a Shonen series. So it’s obvious a hyperactive main character
like Naruto would be in your face a lot.
However, unlike Naruto or even Seikai from my least favorite Gundam
series, Gundam Build Fighters Try, Hinata comes off as both a fusion of those
two without becoming overbearing or obnoxious, well to me anyway. In a way I cant explain it, he has all of
their qualities but I should hate him, so why don’t I? Maybe it’s because he’s actually good at the
sport going into it but willing to learn new things. Maybe it’s his comradere with Kageyama. Maybe it’s his comedic timing. Whatever the case, ive cheered for Hinata
from the first episode and I haven’t found any reason to stop rooting for this
kid.
#1-Tobio Kageyama
While I was tempted to put him and Hinata on the number
one spot together, these two are still separate characters, though they seem to
operate as a single unit a lot during matches.
And between the two, Kageyama has grown the most between the two. At first, he was a brilliant but arrogant kid
who expected others to follow him and he ended up pushing his old team
away. Through his time with Karasuno,
and especially Hinata, Kageyama has begun to shake off that shameful past and
live up to his potential. He chides
Hinata constantly, most times done with great comedic effect. But every supposed insult is a critique he’s
learning he needs to share to make Hinata, and himself, play better. Kageyama isn’t one for feelings but you can
tell he views Hinata as the closest thing he’s had to a best friend, someone
who believes in his skills even when things get super rough on the court. Hinata may be the unwavering heart of the
team but Kageyama is the calm and never surrendering soul of Karasuno High’s
Volleyball team.
Before I close out, I should give a shout out to the
super awesome cosplayers Rinaca and Surine Cosplay. You may have heard of these two. They’re a really cool cosplaying couple who
just got married last year (Supergirl married Power Girl I believe was the
headline a lot of papers used). I found
progress photos of Karasuno Uniforms before knowing what they were and asked
Rinaca about them. Because of her, I found
Haikyu (yep she’s the new friend I mentioned above). This Top 5 is a thank you to both her and her
lovely wife for getting me out of my usual mecha and action Anime comfort zone. I’ll include links to their Facebook and
Instagram pages below. Please go check
them out and bear witness to their amazing work. As individual cosplayers, they are
awesome. Together…they are legends.
Don’t believe me?
They just cosplayed Widowmaker (Rinaca) and Tracer (Surine) from
Overwatch…the results speak for themselves.
Rinaca Cosplay
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/RinacaCosplay/
Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/rinaca_cosplay/
Surine Cosplay
Facebook-https://www.facebook.com/SurineCosplay/
Instagram-https://www.instagram.com/surinek/
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